Almost as soon as then-16-time world champion John Cena announced that he was retiring at the end of 2025, fans began to speculate about the possibility of him having one final championship reign. This would mean he would hold the record individually, which at the time he shared with two-time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair. And now, having achieved this after defeating Cody Rhodes at Sunday night’s WrestleMania, Flair has acknowledged Cena’s victory, saying on X that it was only a matter of time.
While WWE recognizes Ric Flair as a 16-time world champion, technically, he could be listed as having won up to 25 world championships. This is because, on multiple occasions, Flair would drop the title and subsequently win it back within a day or two while touring, and as it usually never aired on television, it wasn’t officially recognized. Flair himself has previously said that he considers himself a 21-time world champion, although he has seemingly settled on WWE’s number over the years.
